Got this in today’s daily
I read through a lot of the posts (can’t believe I did not find this earlier!).
I am squash crazy - summer, winter, and in between.
I end up with so many that I’m always trying new ways to preserve them with an eye to how I will use them.
Here are a couple of things I’ve been doing this year:
Dehydrating:
Zucchini and banana:
Slice medium with a mandolin. Too thin and they are hard to remove from the wire racks, too thick and they take forever. 130 degrees for however long it takes. Remove promptly to glass jars with good lids and store in a dark place. These sweeten up quite a bit in the dehydrator.
I use the dried rounds: by tearing them up with my fingers add add them to my granola. I make big batches, so a lot of those squash get used there, by throwing a handful into other things I’m cooking (think: scrambled eggs, oatmeal, cookies, any meat dish that has a little cooking liquid, etc, soaking in a tiny bit of
water to soften, then cover with good parmesan, shredded, and bake until crispy, run some through the spice grinder to help thicken things (I do this a lot for making taco seasoning) ….
Canning: (I pressure can the squash, even when I add vinegar)
I cut big chunks or spears. I can them plain (in water), for a quick veg side dish. This year I had such a glut I also canned some using pickling liquid leftover from making bread and butter pickles and pickled beets. I haven’t opened any of these yet, but I suspect the bread and butter liquid will be a better fit.
Freezing: for the banana squash that get out of hand (2+ feet long, 2 arms to carry, hugged to chest), i bake the whole thing in the
oven until very mushy, then let cool. Using my clean hands i pull out the seeds and membranes, then the flesh which I freeze in 2 cup portions. I have about 50 # in the freezer and expect to use it all. Soup, desert stuff, bread, casseroles, you name it. Btw, it is not recommended to can the mashed flesh - its too hard to ensure there are no air bubbles. I use it for both sweet and savory recipes. For example, I tried a recipe this year that had me peeling and cubing hard squash which was a chore. The result was delicious. But you know what ? The squash was mushy (in a good way) that I intend to use my already baked frozen squash in future. I do not like peeling and chopping raw squash (summer squash is exempted from this proclamation).
Squashes that are in the middle (not summer squash, but aren’t real long keepers)
i harden them off and use them first. Some (like delicious lakota) I dehydrate. Slices need to be fairly thin or it can take days the dehydrate and I do not have a
solar dehydrator. I slice them with a mandoline. Sometimes I peel them, sometimes not. Depends on the skin. If the slicing (both to open the squash and the mandoline part) is difficult I put it in the microwave for a few minutes at a time or in a low oven until they slice nicely. I would not cook it all the way through because I think it would be too hard to handle getting it from squash to rack. I also would not pre-cook in any way that would add moisture (steaming, etc). If its really hard I will cook it just enough to get it open, then scoop out the seeds and stuff, then if its still too hard to easily glide through the mandoline, I cook it again. Having opened it and removing some wet stuff gives it a little head start on dehydrating, ar at least doesn’t add to it as steaming it or baking it longer whole might do.
As for the squash that keeps well, don’t forget to harden it off after picking and before storing, not touching . And don’t forget to turn them over once in a while (ask me how I know).
Ok - here I go with another missive. I will stop there.
But one more thing — even some of the better keepers will end up in the dehydrator, jar, or freezer sometime in the winter when I have had a break from preserving and run out of my handy pre-processed stock.
Oh, and a question:
Has anyone fermented squash? Any successes to share?
.png)
1
